The New York City Council is poised on Thursday to take a major step to address the city’s housing crisis by approving a plan that includes the most significant zoning changes in decades.
Its new rules could make way for 80,000 new homes over the next 15 years in a city where rents have soared and the vacancy rate is at its lowest level in half a century.
The plan is expected to pass the Council with a narrow majority, a sign of the contentious negotiations that have consumed City Hall for months.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, has made the plan, known as City of Yes, a top priority. His administration won over skeptical lawmakers by agreeing to spend an additional $5 billion on affordable housing and infrastructure projects and by scaling back some of the boldest proposals.
The goal is to build “a little more housing in every neighborhood” by changing rules around parking mandates for new construction and adding homes above stores and in basements. Opposition was fierce in neighborhoods in Staten Island and Queens that have many single-family homes, with residents objecting to the prospect of new high-rise apartments.
Mitchell L. Moss, a professor of urban policy at New York University, praised leaders for reaching a compromise and said that the city needed to build housing, especially near subway stations.
“We’ve had a lost decade of housing development in New York City, and this is the start of changing that,” he said. “We have to keep going.”
The Council speaker, Adrienne Adams, said on Tuesday that she was confident the plan would have enough votes to pass in the 51-member body. She urged members to focus on what was best for the city — not just for their districts — at a moment when the high cost of living is pushing many Black families to move away.
“Our conversations have been to encourage our colleagues to please take an expansive view,” she said.
Ms. Adams, who has a tense relationship with the mayor (they are not related), had pushed for the additional funding, which included $1 billion from the state. The deal sets aside $2 billion for affordable housing; $2 billion for infrastructure projects, including sewer upgrades; and $1 billion for public housing, vouchers, tenant protections and other measures.
Mayor Adams said on Tuesday that he was proud of the plan, even though it would create roughly 20,000 fewer housing units than the initial plan.
“There’s so much you can hit me on,” he said. “Give me my wins.”
The mayor, who is running for re-election, has record-low approval ratings and was indicted in September on federal corruption charges.
Many housing experts and elected officials say that the plan is an important step, but that the city must go further to build more housing quickly.
On Tuesday, Zellnor Myrie, a state senator from Brooklyn who is running for mayor, released an ambitious housing plan that called for building or preserving one million homes over the next decade. He proposed a “Mega Midtown” plan to increase density with mixed-income rental towers in that area of Manhattan.
“Our current path of Band-Aids and blinders is a choice to continue pushing New Yorkers out,” Mr. Myrie said.
Last month, the Council approved a bill to shift expensive broker fees to landlords, another effort to address high housing costs. Mr. Adams said this week that he would not veto the bill despite his concerns that it could prompt landlords to raise monthly rents.
“I don’t want to put New Yorkers through distress and strife,” he said of his past battles with City Council leaders.
The housing plan is the third part of a broader proposal to update the city’s archaic zoning rules. The Council already approved two other measures to prepare the city for climate change and to create new rules to support businesses.
The plan creates three zones for parking mandates, removing them — or reducing them significantly — in certain areas and keeping them in areas that have fewer public transit options. Many new developments, including affordable housing and homes near transit hubs, would no longer be required to provide parking.
The rules would also make it easier to build backyard cottages and basement apartments. And they would give developers an option to build bigger buildings than they currently can, if they include apartments available only to lower- or moderate-income residents or those who are struggling with homelessness.
The mayor has largely been absent from the push to get the plan approved. Instead, Mr. Adams relied on two allies: Dan Garodnick, the director of the Department of City Planning, and Maria Torres-Springer, his first deputy mayor.
On the day of a key committee vote last month, Ms. Adams, the Council speaker, said she had not spoken to the mayor that day, but had spoken to Gov. Kathy Hochul, who agreed to contribute state funding to help secure a deal.
Republican Council members opposed the plan, and some Democrats from neighborhoods outside Manhattan also had concerns. Lynn Schulman, a Democrat who represents Forest Hills in Queens, voted against the measure in a subcommittee and said she was worried it was being rushed and would damage the city.
“I heard very loud the voices of my constituents,” she said.
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